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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24422236">And Then There Were None</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/hashtagartistlife/pseuds/hashtagartistlife'>hashtagartistlife</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Bleach</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 06:54:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,705</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24422236</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/hashtagartistlife/pseuds/hashtagartistlife</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ichigo Kurosaki, college student, gets roped into a dorm game with a long tradition and finds it a little more than he bargained for. Kuchiki Rukia, college student, has never done anything by halves-- and that includes stupid traditional dorm welcoming games. The r.a.s regret the day they placed her knife in his hands.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kuchiki Rukia/Kurosaki Ichigo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>And Then There Were None</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>There was a tumblr post going around that I can no longer find about a welcoming game at an American college dormitory. The basic idea behind it was that everyone in the dorms get a plastic knife with someone else's name on it, and they had to find that person and 'stab' them with the knife (just a simple touch was counted as valid) to 'murder' them. The 'victim' is then out of the game, and they had to hand over their own plastic knife to their 'murderer'. Whoever is on the 'victim's plastic knife was the new victim for the 'murderer'. </p><p>My first instinct upon seeing anything vaguely amusing is always 'make it ichiruki'. So here's the fic about it.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>So, college dorms were pretty wild. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>For small-town Karakura boy Kurosaki Ichigo, living in a co-ed dorm at a university in America has been nothing short of an eye-opening experience. There are people walking around </span>
  <em>
    <span>barefeet</span>
  </em>
  <span> in only a </span>
  <em>
    <span>towel. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Some girl set off the smoke alarm because she was cooking cup noodles in the bathroom at 2am. He’s pretty sure he’s heard his dormmates having sex through the walls on more than one occasion, and the food served at the cafeteria is only edible about half the time. All in all, it’s a little bemusing, but not at all unpleasant, and by the third week of his move he thinks he’s settling in ok. His room is mostly in order, and he’s made at least passing acquaintances with the people on his floor. His English is improving at a frankly astonishing speed, and classes don’t start till next week. He’s figured out which stall in the bathroom spits out the most reliable hot water, and he really thinks he’s got a good handle on this whole ‘dorm living’ thing—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>that is, until he gets back to his dorm room one night to find a plastic knife shoved under his door. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The fuck…?” he mutters, trying to figure out if this was an American befriending ritual, or maybe someone was just attempting to threaten him (badly)? Did his room </span>
  <em>
    <span>look</span>
  </em>
  <span> like a trashcan? Did Chad (he thinks that was his name) from room 209 remember what he said about not having a grasp on American cutlery yet and decide to help him in a subtle way? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He raps on the door next to his, and a muffled voice yells ‘who is it?’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s Kurosaki from 206,” he replies, and the door cracks open to reveal a single brown eye and a strand of auburn hair. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, hi, Kurosaki-kun!” Inoue Orihime from 207 was…. an odd girl. She liked putting parsley in her coffee and read astrophysics textbooks for fun. But Ichigo doesn’t remember her ever being this </span>
  <em>
    <span>defensive—</span>
  </em>
  <span> she’d always been enthusiastic about greeting people, so the way that she refuses to open her door more than an inch is uncharacteristic of her. “What’s wrong?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I just got back from the library and there was this knife shoved under my door—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At this, Inoue </span>
  <em>
    <span>screams</span>
  </em>
  <span> and slams her door shut; Ichigo is left more than a little bemused. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Inoue? </span>
  </em>
  <span>What the hell— it’s only a plastic knife!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I </span>
  <em>
    <span>know</span>
  </em>
  <span> that, Kurosaki-kun! As if I’m just going to let you win this— but by the way, this is </span>
  <em>
    <span>terrible</span>
  </em>
  <span> strategy, now I know to avoid you like the plague—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Strategy?! Inoue, what the fuck— wait, is this plastic knife meant to mean something? Is this some American etiquette thing? I have no idea what’s going on. Please explain to me what this knife means—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Inoue opens her door a crack again, and looks at him suspiciously. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait, so you didn’t hear the murder announcement at breakfast today?” </span>
</p><p><em><span>“Murder</span></em> <em><span>announcement?! </span></em><span>Jesus FUCK, who died—”</span></p><p>
  <span>“Nobody died, Kurosaki-kun, don’t be overdramatic—”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“AS FAR AS MY ENGLISH SKILLS GO, INOUE, MURDER MEANS SOMEBODY DIED—”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wow, you really don’t listen to the breakfast announcements at all, do you?” Inoue sounds supremely unimpressed, but at least she opens the door a bit further; except </span>
  <em>
    <span>what the hell is she only wearing a towel—?!</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Inoue why the </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck</span>
  </em>
  <span> are you only wearing a towel—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Inoue waves her hand like that’s a negligible detail. “Just got out of the shower, but also murder strategy. You’re immune if you’re naked, and some of the second years recommended this. I’m in this to </span>
  <em>
    <span>win,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Kurosaki-kun, there’s a whole year’s supply of cup noodles in this for me—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait, what? Cup noodles?” </span>
  <em>
    <span>That</span>
  </em>
  <span> got his attention. Anything that scored him a whole year’s supply of free cup noodles was okay in his book. Questionable towel-wearing included. “Now you </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>gotta explain what’s going on.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I should leave you to </span>
  <em>
    <span>rot,</span>
  </em>
  <span> one less person to compete against for me.” Inoue purses her lips. “But you </span>
  <em>
    <span>were</span>
  </em>
  <span> the first one to pour a bucket of water on that fire I started last week, so fine, I’ll let you in on the murder details.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not a sentence I thought I’d ever hear in my life, but cheers, America,” Ichigo mutters. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So basically, murder’s a game that the whole dorm plays every year,” Inoue starts explaining, and Ichigo’s still trying to get over the weirdness of the word </span>
  <em>
    <span>murder</span>
  </em>
  <span> being used so casually— “and everyone gets these plastic knives with someone’s name written on them, and the idea is you have to stab that person with the knife and ‘’’kill’’’ them. Then you get their knife, and you just keep killing people and collecting knives until you’re the last person left! Hmm, there were a couple of rules, you can’t kill someone in the dining room or their own rooms, and you’re immune if you’re naked, but I think that was it? Anyway. So yeah! That’s what’s going on here!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ichigo squints at his knife in the half-dark of the corridor that, for some reason, has had all its lights screwed out. “Ok, that’s…. Great, I suppose? What happens if I don’t know who the person on my knife is?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then you </span>
  <em>
    <span>find out,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Kurosaki-kun! This game </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> ostensibly devised so that we make friends, you know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There are no </span>
  <em>
    <span>friends</span>
  </em>
  <span> when it comes to a year’s free supply of cup noodles,” Ichigo says, and Inoue claps her hands. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Precisely! You’re getting the hang of it now. Ergo, for the next week, I don’t know you, ok? Good luck!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Inoue slams her door shut, and Ichigo shuffles back to his room, feeling slightly more enlightened than before. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But still— </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who the hell is </span>
  <em>
    <span>Rukia Kuchiki?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>By the second week of </span>
  <em>
    <span>Murder,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Ichigo’s seen enough naked butts to last him a lifetime. It seems that voluntary nakedness is a vastly preferable fate for many than losing a shot at a year’s supply of free cup noodles, and honestly if that doesn’t sum up the average college student mindset Ichigo doesn’t know what does. (He’d probably be a lot more judgemental about it, though, if he hadn’t spent at least a few hours earnestly contemplating the strategy himself.) </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Thankfully, he and Chad have an alliance of sorts that makes him wearing a towel round the place redundant. He’d enlisted the giant’s help in identifying his would-be target, and after ascertaining that he wasn’t the name on Chad’s knife either (Chad had one Asano Keigo as his victim, Ichigo only knows him as that guy who swallowed a whole tablespoon of cinnamon powder on a dare), the two of them had agreed to watch the other’s back. Chad was set to pull off his first attack tomorrow, but Ichigo still had no clue who or where </span>
  <em>
    <span>Rukia Kuchiki</span>
  </em>
  <span> was. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Part of the problem was that the dorm was so friggin’ </span>
  <em>
    <span>huge;</span>
  </em>
  <span> there were four wings, each with five floors, and each floor had ten rooms. That was 200 potential students he had to parse through to find his victim, and it wasn’t exactly like he could go around asking people if they knew her. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Murder</span>
  </em>
  <span> had amped hostility on campus up by 300%, and almost nobody stopped for idle chatter anymore.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Whoever had devised this as a way of promoting friendliness and unity on campus was a </span>
  <em>
    <span>giant fuckin’ moron. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Still no word on Kuchiki?” Chad asks, after another day of paranoia and stalking Asano to make sure the plan goes off without a hitch, and Ichigo shakes his head. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are they even real at this stage? Are we sure I haven’t been given someone who doesn’t exist?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ghost student?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuckin’ potentially? Who the fuck knows with America.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chad hides a smile behind his rickety old guitar and starts tuning. “I’ll ask around my bandmates tomorrow, if you’d like.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Naw, s’alright. I don’t want word to get out that I’m looking for them. What kinda giant flashing beacon that says HEY, I’M YOUR POTENTIAL MURDERER, right?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If you say so.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I do.” Because dammit all, Ichigo’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>serious</span>
  </em>
  <span> about this thing. A whole year’s supply of cup noodles is no joking matter. Speaking of which, he wonders how Inoue is doing with her murders…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Inoue, as it turns out, is doing </span>
  <em>
    <span>swimmingly. </span>
  </em>
  <span>While Ichigo has done little more than sit around and twiddle his thumbs, Inoue has already racked up an impressive collection of plastic knives— three, she informs him that night, while cheerfully throwing him a celebratory can of leek soda (Ichigo gingerly sets it down behind her sofa when she's not looking). She was making good headway on her next victim, as well, and if all went according to plan she'd have her fourth knife tomorrow morning—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But, you know, Kurosaki-kun,” she muses, sipping on her own can of beetroot soda (where did she </span>
  <em>
    <span>get</span>
  </em>
  <span> these concoctions from!?), “You're awfully cavalier about this whole thing. For all you know, </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> could be my next victim,but here you are, sitting on my couch. Or do you just not care about cup noodles?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He snorts. “If you ever got ahold of my knife, I'm pretty sure I'd be dead before we even got to have this conversation.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“True,” she concedes— credit where credit is due. “So nobody’s popped up to try to kill you yet?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nope,” he replies, popping the </span>
  <em>
    <span>p</span>
  </em>
  <span> a little. Honestly, that was the only thing making him feel better about his complete inability to murder anyone— the fact that whoever had his knife was having just as much difficulty tracking him down. One week in, and he'd not seen hide nor hair of this Kuchiki Rukia person, and, big dorm or not, her (her? Ichigo assumes it's a girl, though </span>
  <em>
    <span>Rukia</span>
  </em>
  <span> is very unusual for a Japanese name) elusiveness is getting to be extremely impressive. “But Chad is watching my back for me anyway. I'm covered.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hmm.” Inoue purses her lips. “That's a lot of faith in someone you've only known, for, what, three weeks?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Chad is trustworthy,” Ichigo says firmly. He stands and stretches up to the ceiling, stifling a yawn. “And speaking of Chad, I better get to bed. He's ambushing Asano tomorrow, I told him I'd be there for backup.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Inoue waves. “Good luck to Sado-kun, then. I’m gonna stay up a bit to refine my own dastardly plans.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He shakes his head and opens the door, peering out into the corridor to make sure the coast was clear. He and Inoue were literally next door neighbours, but you couldn't be too careful these days. “When you win this thing I'm gonna be expecting free noodles from you occasionally. Remember I stopped you from burning down the whole dorms last week.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I'll consider it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“‘Night, then.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Goodnight, Kurosaki-kun. Dream of Rukia Kuchiki tonight!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“At this stage,” Ichigo mutters, as he slips back into his room, “anything to help me find out who the hell she is.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Drastic times call for drastic measures. The next morning, after a successful ambush on Asano (Chad is now +1 plastic knife; his new victim is called Yammy Llargo), Ichigo tracks down someone he'd been avoiding ever since his move to America and claps a hand on her shoulder. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Arisawa Tatsuki whirls around and body-slams him into the ground. “Who the fuck do you think you— </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ichigo?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He winces. “Hi.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tatsuki puts her hands on her hips and does not offer him any help getting up. “Oh, so you're talking to me now?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I just said hi, didn't I?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know, you're such a fucking asshole, did it ever occur in your pathetic little brain to </span>
  <em>
    <span>apologise—”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“I'm sorry,” Ichigo mutters sullenly. “Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was also going to college in America, I'm sorry you found out only when you bumped into me at the dorm welcoming party, it's just that we had that whole farewell party for you and we had that touching goodbye and, look it's just </span>
  <em>
    <span>awkward</span>
  </em>
  <span> that I got a second round admissions letter the very next day, it's like saying bye to a friend and then finding out you're walking the same way to the carpark, ok, it’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>embarrassing—”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh my god, you </span>
  <em>
    <span>drama queen.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Were you ever planning on telling me? </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ever? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Your best friend since childhood?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“... I might’ve planned to tell you at the beginning of the next semester by pretending I was on exchange,” he admits. Tatsuki throws her hands up in the air. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You were going to avoid me for a </span>
  <em>
    <span>whole semester?!”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Look, I didn't know I’d end up in the same dorm as you, ok? It's a big campus!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Un-be-lievable,” she says, turning on a heel and walking away from him. “You know what, keep ignoring me. Don’t hang out around here. I don’t want your incredible loser vibes accidentally rubbing off—” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I said sorry, didn’t I? Wait, wait, I had something to ask you!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry doesn’t pay my bills, Ichigo!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ichigo catches up to her and falls into stride. “You don’t even </span>
  <em>
    <span>pay</span>
  </em>
  <span> bills! You’re on a full scholarship!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tatsuki manages a smug smile. “If you’re so jealous, maybe you should have kept up with karate.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ichigo grumbles. “Yeah, right, like I had a chance at a physical education scholarship with you in the same dojo.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m glad you’re finally acknowledging my superiority—!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You beat my ass continuously from when we were six to sixteen, I threw away any pride I had a long damn time ago.” He makes a face at the memory, then shakes his head to refocus. “Anyway, this isn’t why I was here. Listen, have you heard of anyone around here called Rukia Kuchiki—?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tatsuki cocks her head to the side at that, a thoughtful expression on her face. “Kuchiki…? Name sounds familiar. Why?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ichigo feels his heart speed up in his chest. “What, really? Where did you hear it? Do you know her?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And now she was grinning again and— oh, no, Ichigo does not like the look of that smile. “Why do you want to know?” she asks, and the question is laden with suggestion. Ichigo flushes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“None of your damn busi— look, it’s not what you think—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Aw, my little mama’s boy Ichigo is all grown up, I remember when you used to go crying to your mom for a scraped knee and now you’re chasing after women—” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s for </span>
  <em>
    <span>murder</span>
  </em>
  <span>, you absolute pain in the butt! She’s my target!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tatsuki bursts out laughing, hearty peals of laughter bouncing off the courtyard walls. “Alright, alright, I get you. I was just teasing, Ichigo, geez. Anyway, the name sounds familiar, but that doesn’t mean I </span>
  <em>
    <span>know</span>
  </em>
  <span> her. I can’t remember where I’ve heard it before.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ichigo deflates as quickly as he’d been riled up. “Are you </span>
  <em>
    <span>serious</span>
  </em>
  <span> right now—?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, you can talk, mister ‘I’m-really-bad-at-remembering-names-and-faces! And yeah, I’m serious. I don’t have a stake in murder anymore. I got killed two days in.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ok, </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> surprises him. He raises a skeptical eyebrow. “What, really? Who the hell did </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> in?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Some girl named Orihime Inoue,” she grumbles, kicking a nearby rock. “Tae-kwon-do black belt, apparently??? She doesn’t even look the type!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ichigo makes a noise of sympathy and understanding. He should have guessed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Anyway, now I’m roped into helping her. So I don’t think I’d be able to tell you about Rukia Kuchiki, even if I’d known any more about her. Victims who are murdered have to help their murderer, and all.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ichigo frowns. “Wait, those are the rules?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s what Inoue said.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“............ I am about 95% sure that those were </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> part of murder rules.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There’s a short silence between the two as they process this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“...... scary girl,” Tatsuki finally says, in a grudgingly admiring tone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll say.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two of them stop their brisk walk in front of a huge pair of doors emblazoned with the words GYM, and Tatsuki waves him off. “Anyway, I gotta go train now. Any further questions before I go?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ichigo thinks a bit. “Yeah, why drama </span>
  <em>
    <span>queen?</span>
  </em>
  <span> Since I’m a guy, shouldn’t it be drama </span>
  <em>
    <span>king?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do I look like a linguist? You always scored better than I did at this stupid language. Take it up with whoever your hero was, Willy Shakealot or something?”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Shakespeare,”</span>
  </em>
  <span> he says sharply. “And Shakespeare wasn’t a linguist. In fact, I’m pretty sure linguists really hate him. He made up a lot of weird words and shit.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He did? Huh. Didn’t know you were allowed to do that.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re not, Shakespeare just gave zero fucks.” Ichigo shrugs and takes a half-step back, raising his hand in a goodbye salute. “Why else do you think he was my hero?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tatsuki rolls her eyes. “Whatever. You’re still a loser.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And you’re a bitch. Let me know if you remember anything about Kuchiki.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Only if we get to go halves on the cup noodles.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll think about it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then I’ll think about it, too.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>That was probably the best he was going to get out of her. “Later, then.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If you can bear the embarrassment of us meeting again despite already having said goodbye, then sure.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ichigo shakes his head and lets her have that parting riposte. He hadn’t won a single match, verbal or physical, against Tatsuki since they’d been in diapers; he figures, what with the way his luck was going lately, that he wasn’t about to start now. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Just as Ichigo walks away, a tiny girl brushes past him on her way to the gym. Her black hair falls short and sleek, tickling her jawline and the nape of her neck, and the clean scent of cucumber and mint follows in her wake. She jostles him a little, bumping into his elbow, but Ichigo hardly notices the slight press of her body against his, small and light as she is. She mutters a hasty apology, and disappears into the building before he can formulate a reply. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ichigo shrugs and goes on his merry way. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The third week of murder brings about a calamitous change in the game as Ichigo knows it, due to several factors:</span>
</p>
<ol>
<li>
<span>Orihime Inoue kills not one, not two, but </span><em><span>three</span></em><span> people in quick succession; </span>
</li>
<li><span>Someone finally stages an attack on him, but runs away without having completed the deed, and</span></li>
<li><span>Chad dies.</span></li>
</ol><p>
  <span>Not literally, of course, but Ichigo has to admit, the figurative loss still hits him pretty damn hard. Chad takes it as stoically as ever, with a shrug and twitch of his eyebrow, and goes back to working on music for his band. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Does </span>
  <em>
    <span>anything</span>
  </em>
  <span> faze you?” Ichigo wonders, after Chad hands his knife over to Inoue (because of </span>
  <em>
    <span>course</span>
  </em>
  <span> it was Inoue who took him out. Of course). </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Puppies.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fair enough.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kittens, too.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“... Right.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And birds. And rabbits. And small children—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So basically, you’re a sucker for anything cute?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chad shrugs again, which Ichigo takes as a </span>
  <em>
    <span>yes.</span>
  </em>
  <span> He crumples up his soda can and lobs it into the bin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You were attacked today, too. Aren’t you worried?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ichigo considers it. “A bit, yeah. Sucks that you got taken out of the game. But you can still watch my back when you can, right? I’ll go halves on the noodles with you.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chad nods. “When I can. I might be busier with my band soon, though.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Understandable. I’ll try and keep myself alive in the meantime. At least I know who’s aiming for me, now. Neru? Nel?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Neliel Tu Odelschwancke.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ichigo stares. “How the hell do you remember that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She’s in my music theory class. And she has green hair. She’s not hard to miss.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, good. Should make it easier to see her coming.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chad smiles. “Your hair isn’t exactly hard to miss, either.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Aw, shut up. I take back what I said about the noodles.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They sit in companionable silence for a while, the sounds of Chad tuning his guitar the only thing between them. Eventually, Chad breaks the ice. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And Kuchiki?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ichigo huffs a dry laugh. “No fuckin clue who or where she is. I’ve even been asking around, now that a lot of people have been dropped from the game by dying. But nobody seems to know who she is, even though everyone says her name sounds familiar. It’s driving me up the goddamn wall.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“When I first heard the name, I thought that too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What, that it sounds like a name that’s going to drive me up the wall?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, that it sounds familiar.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At this point, Ichigo is more tired than exasperated. “Yeah, s’what everyone says. Whatever. I’ll either find her or I won’t, right? No point getting annoyed over it. Better just focus on staying alive, because I swear to god if I die before finding out who she is I’ll be </span>
  <em>
    <span>pissed.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“You better hope,” Chad says gravely, “that Inoue doesn’t get her hands on your knife, then.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You, me, and the entire dorm population, mate.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ichigo drops by Inoue’s room that evening, just to check he isn’t next on her list. He’s lucky— he’s not. But some poor fucker by the name of Uryuu Ishida </span>
  <em>
    <span>is.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“I waited outside his room </span>
  <em>
    <span>all day </span>
  </em>
  <span>and he didn’t even exit </span>
  <em>
    <span>once!” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Inoue’s saying, brandishing the knife with his name on it like a conductor directing Beethoven’s Ninth. “What kind of— of social </span>
  <em>
    <span>recluse</span>
  </em>
  <span> does that?!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Damn,” Ichigo replies, ignoring the fact that he did exactly that for days on end during the summer holidays, rereading </span>
  <em>
    <span>The Compleat Works of Shakespeare</span>
  </em>
  <span> in English and Japanese. “Sounds like a loser.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Apparently he’s like— the dorm </span>
  <em>
    <span>cryptid,”</span>
  </em>
  <span> she says, lowering her voice conspiratorially. “Nobody’s— nobody’s really seen him in the flesh. They’re not sure he even exists. They </span>
  <em>
    <span>think</span>
  </em>
  <span> he’s second-year pre-med and that he was valedictorian of his grade last year, but nobody knows for sure.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Inoue, how did you manage to find out all this in the span of a day?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She looks at him like he’s insane. “I, uh, talked to people?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I talk to people too! But </span>
  <em>
    <span>nobody</span>
  </em>
  <span> knows who Rukia Kuchiki is. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Nobody.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Zilch. Zip. Nada. At this point I’m about 98% sure she doesn’t actually exist.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Inoue sighs pityingly. “Kurosaki-kun, you’ve been talking to </span>
  <em>
    <span>students,</span>
  </em>
  <span> haven’t you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ichigo’s confused. “Who else would I talk to?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Inoue just puts a finger to her lips. “Can’t tell you. Trade secret. But really, Kurosaki-kun. There are much easier ways of going about this game, you know.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fat lot of good that’s going to do me, when you won’t tell me,” he grumbles. He takes another look at the name on her knife— Uryuu Ishida, may he rest in peace— and thanks his lucky stars that it isn’t him on there. “Anyway, I better be off. Good luck with the new guy. Not that you’ll need it.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good luck with Rukia Kuchiki, because you’ll definitely need it.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hell, did everyone make a secret pact today to take the mickey out of him? Ichigo’s too tired to argue, so he just leaves Inoue to her planning and calls it a night. Maybe he’ll have better luck tomorrow.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It takes Ichigo a few seconds to remember who she is, he’s been so tired lately. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Green hair,</span>
  </em>
  <span> he thinks, absentmindedly, before he remembers his conversation with Chad yesterday and yelps, scooting back a few metres. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You— </span>
  <em>
    <span>Neliel?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s me!” His would-be murderer is bright and vivacious, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>way</span>
  </em>
  <span> too perky for this hour of the morning. Aside from the curious green hair, she’s also got a scar between her eyes and a reddish— birthmark? Tattoo? Ichigo doesn’t know— across the bridge of her nose. “Morning, Ichigo!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ichigo’s already halfway across the courtyard by the time she stops him. “Wait! Wait! I’m not here to kill you this morning!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah right!” he yells back. “I’m not dying before I find out who the hell Rukia Kuchiki is! Try another morning!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You idiot, I’m already dead! Check the morning lists if you don’t believe me!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ichigo stops and whips out his smartphone. “You stay </span>
  <em>
    <span>right</span>
  </em>
  <span> there,” he says, glaring, and Neliel complies, holding her hands up in a gesture of surrender. He scrolls through the dorm noticeboard, and, sure enough, there is her name: one of the last people to be murdered last night. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“See? I don’t lie,” she says, reproachful, and Ichigo shoves his phone back into his pocket and approaches her cautiously. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you want?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Neliel shrugs. “I just thought I’d warn you about your new potential murderer? Thought that might be good manners, and all. Normally I wouldn’t bother, but, well. Your new murderer’s…… yeah.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My new murderer’s… what?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She looks intensely uncomfortable at this. “He’s. Well. He’s…. He’s not a </span>
  <em>
    <span>friend,</span>
  </em>
  <span> per se, but I’ve known him since we were little and I feel a bit responsible for him— uh, he’s a bit rough sometimes, but he won’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>actually</span>
  </em>
  <span> kill you. I think. Look, just keep your eyes peeled, ok? Anyway, enough of this depressing talk in the morning. Who’s Rukia Kuchiki? Why are you so keen on meeting her?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Wow, that was so transparent a topic change that Ichigo’s almost impressed. “No, no, go back to my murderer, what were you saying about him?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“— so, Rukia Kuchiki, huh, cool name, sounds kinda familiar, wonder where I’ve heard it before—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Neliel. You were talking about my new murderer and </span>
  <em>
    <span>actual</span>
  </em>
  <span> murder in the same breath. This does not give me a lot of reassurance, you feel?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“—no, wait, actually, Rukia </span>
  <em>
    <span>Kuchiki</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” she mutters, her brow furrowing. Then her expression clears, and she looks up at him with a bright smile. “Oh! You don’t possibly mean </span>
  <em>
    <span>Dia—”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>And just as that happens, the lockdown alarms go off. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The loudspeaker in the middle of the courtyard bursts into life with a crackle of static. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Attention all residents. This is not a drill. Please make your way to the nearest lockdown location in an orderly fashion. Attention all residents…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>By the second round of the announcement, both of them manage to unfreeze; Neliel curses and starts to turn away, but Ichigo grabs onto her wrist. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh </span>
  <em>
    <span>shit</span>
  </em>
  <span>— I have to go find Donddochakka and Pesche—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait— Rukia. What were you about to say about Rukia?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She shakes his restraining hand off with ease. “I’ll tell you later! I have to go find my friends!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, goddammit! Tell me now! It won’t take you that long!” Ichigo yells, but she’s already disappeared into the throng of people. Ichigo kicks a nearby rock and consults his phone to find his nearest lockdown location— the gym, apparently. He joins the crowd moving slowly in that direction, mind still grappling with Neliel’s last words.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Rukia Kuchiki? Oh! You don’t possibly mean Dia-</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Dia? Who the hell was </span>
  <em>
    <span>Dia?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>But he’d have to deal with that later; he walks into the gym and spots Tatsuki, waving at him from a corner with Inoue. He makes his way towards them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“—n’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>believe </span>
  </em>
  <span>that he </span>
  <em>
    <span>still</span>
  </em>
  <span> won’t come out of his room, who does he think he </span>
  <em>
    <span>is— </span>
  </em>
  <span>there are </span>
  <em>
    <span>safety regulations </span>
  </em>
  <span>in place—” Inoue is saying, fingers curled around the knife that still says </span>
  <em>
    <span>Uryuu Ishida</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Tatsuki attempts to placate her with a long-suffering expression. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe he’d already left before you came— hi, Ichigo.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello, Kurosaki-kun! And </span>
  <em>
    <span>ridiculous— </span>
  </em>
  <span>I was there at 6 a.m. in the morning. What sort of self-respecting college student wakes up before then?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“6 a.m.?! Orihime, that’s. That’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>stalking—”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Stalking’s not stalking if it’s done in the name of free cup noodles—” </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Stalking is always stalking! </span>
  </em>
  <span>God, whatever, we’re continuing this another time. Anyway, Ichigo, did you hear? Some nutjob got onto campus with an actual knife.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ichigo flinches. “What? Jesus. I hope Chad’s ok. Where’d you hear that from?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“From the r.a. over there.” Tatsuki points with a chin, and indeed, several r.a.s are in deep discussion, all of them with a serious look on their face. “They’re gonna make an announcement about it soon. Apparently it’s a scrawny dude, black hair in a ponytail, wearing a dirty white hoodie and jeans. There’s police cars arriving, shit’s crazy.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll say.” At least it was a knife and not a gun, Ichigo thinks, toying idly with his own plastic knife. He halfheartedly scans the crowd, looking for any unfamiliar faces— surprisingly, he finds that he knows most of them already, by sight if not by name. He wonders if any of them are Rukia Kuchiki, and finds himself hoping that, wherever she was, she was somewhere safe. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’d be a bit of a downer if she was </span>
  <em>
    <span>actually</span>
  </em>
  <span> murdered before he managed to get around to it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The gym doors open again to let some of the stragglers in, and Ichigo allows his attention to be turned by the motely crew that walk in: a tall, thin man who is built rather like a stick insect, a hulking guy who looks about as wide as he’s tall, and a smaller, scrawny dude who is wearing nothing but a towel as a </span>
  <em>
    <span>fundoshi</span>
  </em>
  <span> around his waist (goddammit, Ichigo thought that tactic had died out by the first week). And, almost buried by the mass of bodies around her, a head full of green hair. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ichigo blinks, and then he starts pushing through the crowd to get to her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey. HEY! NELIEL! WE GOTTA CONTINUE OUR CONVERSATION FROM EARLIER!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Neliel looks up in his direction, and frantically starts mouthing </span>
  <em>
    <span>no</span>
  </em>
  <span> at him. Ichigo doesn’t give a shit. He’s going to find out who Rukia Kuchiki is, and he’s going to find out </span>
  <em>
    <span>now.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t give me that crap! You said you’d tell me later! Well, it’s later </span>
  <em>
    <span>now, </span>
  </em>
  <span>so out with it—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, I swear to god, Ichigo, not </span>
  <em>
    <span>now—”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ichigo?” The stick insect dude suddenly looks </span>
  <em>
    <span>viciously</span>
  </em>
  <span> interested, and Neliel claps a hand over her mouth. “As in, Ichigo </span>
  <em>
    <span>Kurosaki?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Neliel shakes her head. Ichigo glares at stick insect dude. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If I am, who the fuck are </span>
  <em>
    <span>you?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Nel buries her face in her hands, and stick insect dude smiles— and </span>
  <em>
    <span>shit</span>
  </em>
  <span>, can people even smile that wide? Ichigo feels a chill run down his spine. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your death,” stick insect dude says, and he lunges. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Scrawny dude, black hair in a ponytail, wearing a dirty white hoodie and jeans.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Ichigo sees the glint of a knife held in his hands, and suddenly realises he’s going to die—</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“No!”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>That is, until a short, black-haired </span>
  <em>
    <span>blur</span>
  </em>
  <span> shoots out from the crowd and jumps in front of the knife meant for him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It sinks in to the hilt, and Ichigo watches the girl’s eyes widen in shock with a horror that robs him of his own voice. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Both girl and assailant crumple to the ground, and Ichigo’s frantic with worry; he reaches the girl first, hoists her up onto his lap, expecting blood. She was so </span>
  <em>
    <span>small</span>
  </em>
  <span>; what the hell was she thinking, jumping out in front of him?! She coughs, great big hacking things that he wouldn’t expect from someone her size, and Ichigo holds her around her shoulders, worried out of his mind. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you ok? Hold on— where did he stab you? Are you bleeding—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In response, the girl wipes her mouth with the back of her hand and lunges at the felled assailant. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You </span>
  <em>
    <span>missed,</span>
  </em>
  <span> you cowardly shitstain, I don’t know what you’re doing on a campus but you’re going to rot in jail for this—” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Young lady—! </span>
  <em>
    <span>Enough</span>
  </em>
  <span>! Back away and let the cops deal with this—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nnoitra! I </span>
  <em>
    <span>told</span>
  </em>
  <span> you to leave that stupid knife behind, you </span>
  <em>
    <span>idiot—”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ow! OW! Don’t just fucking watch, Nel, get this crazy woman off me, what the fuck—” </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“ENOUGH!”</span>
  </em>
  <span> The r.a.’s have made their way over by now, and manage to separate the two brawling figures; stick insect dude is being held back by Nel and her two other friends, while the girl is being restrained by an r.a. Ichigo sits on the floor between them, feeling like he just missed something. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait, hang on, what’s— what just happened— didn’t you get stabbed?” he asks the girl, who is looking very un-stabbed. She glares at stick insect dude. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He missed,” she spits, and stick insect dude howls in indignation. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I did not </span>
  <em>
    <span>miss!”</span>
  </em>
  <span> he hisses, and throws a crumpled plastic knife onto the ground. “I had him! I would have had him </span>
  <em>
    <span>straight in the gut</span>
  </em>
  <span> if it hadn’t been for </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> jumping in for your boyfriend!!! The fuck, dude! This is </span>
  <em>
    <span>sabotage! </span>
  </em>
  <span>What have you got against me winning cup noodles?!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ichigo stares at the plastic knife bearing his name, crushed like an empty aluminium drink can, and slowly starts piecing the incident together. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait— so </span>
  <em>
    <span>you're—”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“And now I've lost the element of surprise. You scrawny little bitch,” Nnoitra snaps, and Ichigo thinks, a little wildly, that he had </span>
  <em>
    <span>no</span>
  </em>
  <span> business going around calling anyone else scrawny. He eyes the limp black hair and dirty white hoodie of his assailant and attempts to make sense of the chaos around him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re— you had my knife—?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nnoitra rolls his eyes. “What, can’t you see? You impaired or some shit?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh my god, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Nnoitra,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Neliel groans. “Can you keep your big fat mouth shut for half a second—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh,” comes a small sound from the black-haired girl, and Ichigo turns to see her slowly flushing crimson. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Oh.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Oh,”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Nnoitra mocks, before Neliel smacks him in the head. “Ow! Nel, you bitch, she is </span>
  <em>
    <span>clearly</span>
  </em>
  <span> the one in the wrong here, would you knock it off—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, what the hell was I supposed to think?!” the girl demands, now completely red but with an indignant expression on her face. “You matched the description for the armed intruder perfectly! Not to mention, who plays Murder like they're </span>
  <em>
    <span>actually</span>
  </em>
  <span> trying to kill someone?!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is why I was trying to warn you,” Nel says to Ichigo in an exasperated aside. “And those are just his last set of clean clothes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There's a short silence as everyone digests her words, Ichigo and the girl both eyeing Nnoitra’s hoodie like they seriously doubted Nel’s definition of ‘clean’.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The girl clears her throat and speaks for all of them. “Gross.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nnoitra flings himself against Nel’s restraint. “You </span>
  <em>
    <span>bitch, </span>
  </em>
  <span>I'll fucking cut you up—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Enough!” an </span>
  <em>
    <span>adult</span>
  </em>
  <span> finally makes their way onto the scene, and everyone looks at the harried professor with varying levels of relief. The girl, in particular, lights up at the sight of him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Professor Ukitake—!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s going on here?” he asks in a tired sort of way, and the r.a.s hasten to answer him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A minor altercation— you know our dorm tradition, Murder—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, that damn game,” he mutters, looking extremely distracted. His gaze sweeps over all of them, assessing the situation. “Nobody’s actually hurt, then?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No sir,” the girl answers, prompt. The professor nods at her, before turning to the r.a.s for the full story. By now, the police have made it into the evacuation area as well; the three parties convene for a minute or two, discussing the details in hushed voices, before they all turn to Nnoitra and Nel.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“In any case, Mr. Gilga,” Professor Ukitake says apologetically, “although it may be coincidental, it </span>
  <em>
    <span>is</span>
  </em>
  <span> true that you fit the description for the armed intruder rather perfectly, I’m afraid. The police would like you to accompany them to the station, just for a little while, until the intruder situation is solved. If that’s ok with you—?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wha— the hell it is! I was just tryna murder Kurosaki over there—” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The professor winces. “Mr. Gilga….. That’s really not helping your cause there.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, c’mon, it’s just a game—” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I </span>
  <em>
    <span>told</span>
  </em>
  <span> you,” Nel interrupts witheringly. “I </span>
  <em>
    <span>told</span>
  </em>
  <span> you to leave your damn knife behind, didn’t I? Just go with the officers for now, Nnoitra. It’s just til they catch the real intruder, and quite frankly, I don’t trust you around Ichigo right now.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t be a sore loser, Nel, just because I murdered </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> last night—” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Two policemen place a hand each on Nnoitra’s shoulders and escort him out, Nnoitra complaining the whole time but not daring to retaliate. Nel shakes her head and makes an apologetic face in the direction of the smaller girl. “God, I </span>
  <em>
    <span>told</span>
  </em>
  <span> him… sorry about all this, Di. I might go with him just to make sure he doesn’t get himself arrested… you really alright? Not hurt anywhere?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who do you think I am?” the girl scoffs. “I’m fine. Never did understand why you’re friends with him, though.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nel grimaces. “Yeah, sometimes I wonder that, too. Anyway, I’ll see you later at the gym, we can talk about this then.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tell your stick insect friend not to lunge at people with knives in the future, whether they’re plastic or not.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Will do. Bye!” with another apologetic half-wave, Neliel and her two other friends take off after Nnoitra. Ichigo, still feeling somewhat bemused by the proceedings, finally turns and manages to get a good look at his…. saviour(?), for lack of a better word. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She’s short. That’s his first impression, the fact that she is so goddamn </span>
  <em>
    <span>short</span>
  </em>
  <span> and good lord, she might actually, literally be just half his size, if the way the top of her head only comes up to his chest is any indication. Aside from the height (or lack thereof), she seems fairly nondescript: short black bob, black leggings and a t-shirt with a flannel tied around her waist. She notices him staring and holds out a hand. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Diana. We could have met in less embarrassing circumstances, but I guess as first meetings go ‘jumped in front of a knife for you’ isn’t a bad start. You alright?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ichigo takes the proffered hand and is promptly surprised by the firmness of her grip. “Fine. I feel like I should be the one asking you, though. You're the one that got stabbed.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Diana rolls her eyes. “Please. As if anything wielded by a guy that skinny would ever be able to hurt me.” She grins, all teeth, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>whoa, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Ichigo may have to reconsider that first assessment of her. He’s suddenly flustered, red dusting the skin over his cheekbones as he tries to come up with a response. She has the bluest eyes he's ever seen. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Thankfully, the professor from earlier spares him. “Miss Kuchiki!” he calls, and Diana turns— he wants to have a few words with her, it seems, and she gestures to him that she'd be over soon. She turns back to Ichigo to say goodbye. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, take care, I guess I'll see you around--"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Something clicks in his brain like lightning, and he catches her by the wrist. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait. Kuchiki—? Like, Kuchiki as in Byakuya Kuchiki Kuchiki? Kuchiki as in the Kuchiki Wing in the Main Library Kuchiki? As in one of the shareholders of our university Kuchiki? </span>
  <em>
    <span>That</span>
  </em>
  <span> Kuchiki?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shut up, fool, not so loud—!” She snatches her wrist back and looks around worriedly, though by now people’s attentions have moved on from them. She answers him in a resigned tone. “Yes, that Kuchiki. He’s my brother. It's not something I like to advertise.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ichigo’s mind is teeming like a nest of ants. “Why— no, never mind that question. Diana’s not a Japanese name, though--"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It's my English name, obviously,” she snaps. “If you wanted my full name it is Rukia Kuchiki. Why are you so interested in my name anyway? Shouldn't you at least tell me yours first?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A slow grin spreads over his face; the kind of grin that Tatsuki had once told him made him look like the supervillain in a bad shounen. He takes a step in closer to her, and Diana— </span>
  <em>
    <span>Rukia</span>
  </em>
  <span>, irritated, stands her ground. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His hand slips into his pocket. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I'm Ichigo Kurosaki,” he tells her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In one fluid motion, he pulls out his own knife and taps her with it on the shoulder. Those blue eyes of hers widen first in disbelief, and then in outrage. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You— no. No, you can't possibly— you </span>
  <em>
    <span>couldn't!!”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nice to meet you, Rukia Kuchiki,” he smirks, flipping the plastic knife over to display her name. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rukia closes her eyes and pinches the bridge of her nose, like she has a headache coming on. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then she opens her eyes, takes a deep breath, and socks him in the face. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>There's two chapters planned, and please don't ask me when the next chapter will be up, it's not high on my priority list. But it WILL come, some day. I don't make it a habit to abandon fic, even though sometimes it seems like I have. Promise.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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